Breaking Local News

Kanawha County is middle-of-the-pack when it comes to West Virginia's healthiest states. A new report this week from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute says Mongolia County is the healthiest, and McDowell County is the least healthy. The rankings are based on factors including obesity, smoking, and high school graduation rates, among other things. Kanawha County ranks #37, and Putnam County ranks 9th of 55 counties.

A pedestrian ended up with scrapes on the back of his legs after being hit by a vehicle Thursday morning at a Kanawha County Go Mart, and the man told a deputy that his girlfriend, Leslie Ann Dent, tried to take his car while he was at the store and he tried to stop her. Deputies caught up with her and learned she had an active warrant and her driver's license was suspended for nine unpaid citations. She was arrested and charged with driving while suspended, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, failure to report a crash, and domestic battery.

Police are still gathering all the facts after a possible threat to safety at the University of Charleston's Kanawha City campus on Wedensday. The campus returned to normal after a few mintues, but students were asked to stay in place for a short time while officers responded and gave the all clear. UC President Ed Welch told the media the situation was under control within a few minutes, and more will be released as it becomes available.

We told you earlier this week about the arrest of 31-year old Justin Brafford of Hurricane, after robbing a gaming parlor. Now he's been connected to other crimes. St. Albans police have charged Brafford with grand larceny after they were led to the conclusion that he robbed Lewie's Gaming Parlor on Route 60 last Friday. Brafford has also been connected to the robbery of Kelley's Kafe in Jefferson and Texas Jim's video lottery parlor in Teays Valley. And police have linked Brafford to thefts in Huntington too.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is accepting registrations now for the upcoming Adopt-A-Highway Spring Statewide Cleanup. The deadline to register is April 12th and the event takes place April 27th. Individuals and groups can get involved, as long as the actual volunteers are at least 12 years old. The cleanup can involve almost any road maintained by the state. Private roads and interstate highways cannot be adopted. The Adopt-A-Highway program provides garbage bags, work gloves and safety vests to volunteers, and then the state hauls off the trash. Last spring more than 5,500 volunteers cleared trash from more than 1,500 miles of West Virginia roadways.

Students at the University of Charleston can rest assured that tuition won't creep up next year. UC announced a tuition freeze for the 2013-14 school year Tuesday, which keeps the cost for undergraduates at $19,500. And the pay-per-credit cost structure will stay in effect at UC-Beckley and UC-Martinsburg locations. UC President Ed Welch said in a news release it's the school's goal to keep college affordable, and they want to show students and their families that earning a degree at UC is financially possible. The school says its rates or tuition and fees are more than five thousand dollars below the national average for private universities in the US.

A $1 million lottery winner has yet to step forward, but the West Virginia Lottery says the ticket was sold in Beckley. The ticket matched five numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing, and only missed matching the Powerball itself. A news release from the lottery says the winner bought the ticket at the Little General Store on Robert C. Byrd Drive in Beckley. The winning numbers for Saturday’s drawing were: 3-7-21-44-55 and the Powerball number was 16. This is the third Powerball ticket worth $1 million sold in West Virginia in the last two weeks.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has announced a temporary hiring freeze that will be in effect for the rest of the budget year. The freeze affects all agencies within the Executive Branch and will be in effect through June 30th. This comes after the State's General Revenue tax collections were $35 million below budget forecast through January, and collections are not expected to pick up much in the coming months. Tuesday's order applies to jobs and vacancies funded by general revenue, and not to those that rely on special revenues like license fees. The governor said he would allow exceptions on a case-by-case basis, but any hiring would have to be approved by him. The governor also ruled out layoffs or furloughs.

Tenth graders are being encouraged to sign up for this summer's West Virginia Science Camp. One 10th grader from each of West Virginia's 55 counties will be selected to go to the camp from July 15th through 23rd at Cedar Lakes Conference Center near Ripley. It's sponsored by the state Department of Education and the National Youth Science Foundation,. High schools have to turn in the names of student nominees by April 17. County superintendents will then select one student to attend the camp and up to nine alternates.

State police say a man who escaped from a Charleston work release program has been recaptured. West Virginia State Police caught up with Donald Toler in Boone County Tuesday night and he's back in the Southwestern Regional Jail. Toler also had six felony warrants against him for possession of pseudoephedrine.